Re: Rowling’s Red Flag

[pippin_999 <foxmoth@qnet.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50247

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ebony 
<selah_1977 at y...>" <selah_1977 at y...> wrote:
Hermione has developed as a  character more than the boys 
have in a manner of speaking.  I think I agree... we've had a lot of 
Hermione-development in PoA and GoF... 


> and in GoF, some of it was completely tangential to the main 
>plot of  what Harry was going through.  <<

JKR did mention that she let Hermione pursue her interest in the 
House Elves for a while, but had to force her back into the main 
plot--I've always felt the matter of the House Elves was dropped 
rather abruptly.

But I think Hermione's stand-out role in the resolution of PoA 
obscures the fact that for large parts of the novel, and of CoS 
before it, Hermione has little to do. She's in the Hospital Wing for 
large parts of CoS and on the outs with the boys in most of PoA. 
If JKR hadn't given her a major role in GoF, I'd have wondered if 
she (JKR) wasn't losing interest in the character.

I'd also like to say a little about the "just fourteen" business. No,
it doesn't excuse their behavior. It doesn't mean that fourteen 
year olds can't behave better than that. Many do. But some 
people breeze through their teen years only to have an outbreak 
of callous, irresponsible behavior (we call it an identity crisis) at
thirty, because they never found out who they were as teens. 

Others, who were inconsiderate idiots as teens,  become 
staunch and reliable adults precisely because they've learned to 
know themselves. The reason I want to Cut Ron A Break is that  
fourteen year old behavior is a poor predictor of what a person 
will be like in later life.   Someone who's obliviously self-centered 
at  twenty-five will probably be the same at forty. An obliviously 
self-centered teen, OTOH, could well be a pleasure to know in a 
few years' time. 

I want to emphasize that I think very little of the inconsiderate
idiot behavior which I, at least, see in all three members of the 
Trio is intentional. I don't think Ron *meant*  to trample 
Hermione's feelings. I don't think Hermione meant to string him, 
or Viktor, along (part of her blush is her beginning to realize
that's how it looks). I don't think Harry *meant* to diss Parvati, or 
exclude Ron from his life by not explaining why he thought his 
name was put into the Cup. They're just emotionally clueless, 
and this is being exaggerated for comic effect and to make the 
series enjoyable for  all ages. 

A kid who hasn't the slightest idea why the adult readers are 
grinning over Ron's mishandling of his pestle and the sexual 
connotations of Hermione's deep red flush can still be amused 
by the scene in Potions Class because of the slapstick. 

But about the Kiss....

Red Flag Scenario # 4

Hermione's never done this before, because Harry's never *let* 
her do this before. This is the first time he hasn't yelped 
"Hermione!" in italics and scared her away  at the first sign of a 
hug. 

Fancy me, arguing against my own ship. <g> But JKR hasn't any 
intention, IMO, of resolving the ambiguities any time soon. She's 
got a couple thousand pages ahead of her, by my guess. She's 
not about to wrap up any major plot threads in Book Five. I have a 
feeling at the end of OoP we'll still be as confused about the 
Trio's feelings as they are.

Pippin